Helping disabled vets reinvent their lives through water sports

SAN DIEGO — Recently, while writing a story about Challenged Sailors, the inspirational nonprofit providing sailing opportunities for the disabled, I met Peter Ballantyne, executive director of the Cal-Diego Chapter of Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA). He accompanied local members coming for a day of sailing on San Diego Bay in CS’s specially adapted Martin 16s. I was curious how he’d got involved in adaptive sports. Ballantyne, a life-long boater, water sports enthusiast and licensed captain, grew up on the water in Long Island, spending summer vacations on Lake George, boating and waterskiing. When he first moved to San Diego in 1984 to accompany his neuroscientist wife to UCSD he quickly made a discovery that would change the course of his career. “I saw someone on Mission Bay on a sit-ski, a chair on two bars on the water. I love waterskiing and wanted to learn about that,” he recalled. Able-bodied himself, he found himself drawn to helping the disabled experience the pleasures and freedom of water activities. He approached the Mission Bay Aquatic Center, a water sports center run jointly by SDSU’s and UCSD’s student recreation associations, and explored their adaptive water ski and sailing programs. For sailing he learned they used...